With A Slip Of The Tongue
by Dave-ck
Summary: She seems to realise her mistake the moment the words leave her lips.


**Notes**: This is set, in my mind, somewhere in season two, but could easily be anywhere, really. One shot for now, but I had fun with this and could be persuaded to continue.

**Disclaimer**: Castle still belongs to dudes who own Castle, obviously. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made.

..

**With A Slip Of The Tongue**

..

She seems to realise her mistake the moment the words leave her lips and Rick nearly gives himself whiplash as he spins around to face her.

Did she just-?

Kate's cheeks are pink – a blush? – and her eyes flick towards him before skittering quickly away.

She _did_.

Huh.

Well damn.

Rick can't help the grin that spreads across his face.

Kate's mouth opens and she looks like she's going to say something, but then she snaps it shut, turns sharply on her heel and marches out of the store.

"What's her problem, man?"

The young man's voice startles him – honestly, he'd forgotten the other man was even there – and Rick considers him with a raised eyebrow.

The guy looks confused, rightly so, and it just serves to make Rick's grin widen. The idea flits across his mind to continue the line of questioning without her – she wouldn't _actually_ leave him there, would she? – but he knows that it would just make her angry in the end if he did.

Rick hears the distant sound of a car door and, you know, the guy is way too obvious to be their perp anyway, he decides.

"We'll be in touch," he offers over his shoulder as he races to follow her.

No, no, he's absolutely certain there's no way she'd leave without him.

But it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

..

"Shut up, Castle."

"What?" Rick turns innocent eyes on her. "It's a viable theory. The killer _could_ be a cyborg, Beckett."

Kate rolls her eyes as he continues. "Just think about it. The amount of force-"

"Could be steroids." She cuts him off. "Or adrenaline. Back in the '80s there was that lady who lifted a car off her kid when he was trapped under it."

Rick raises an eyebrow and pretends to consider. "So, we should look out for a body-building cyborg with kids?"

Kate's snort of laughter echoes around the empty bullpen and he lets the corner of his lips lift into a grin.

Ah, sweet victory.

He hasn't said anything, of course, about the events of the morning. It was a difficult concession, being a man of words as he is, but even he has to admit that sometimes actions can speak louder.

His, he hopes, have been saying something to the tune of _look at how nothing needs to change_ and _we're still good _and now they've survived the day, he's let her escape it unscathed, and so he's aiming for something along the lines of _by the way, me too_.

"Come on," he says, lifting his coat off the back of his chair as he stand. "It's late and I'm buying you dinner."

An eyebrow shoots up as she regards him. "What makes you think I don't have plans?"

"Do you?"

Kate pauses before she answers. "No."

"Dinner, then," he concludes, holding out a hand in invitation.

She ignores it but stands after a moment to re-shuffle the case files on her desk and grab her things.

"Remy's?" she asks as she slides her coat on.

Rick knows he's pushing his luck when he slides his palm down her sleeve, brushing imaginary lint off her coat. She doesn't shake him off, though, and so he catches her hand. It feels small and delicate, wrapped in his larger one. "I had something a little bit different in mind."

Kate sighs. "You've been waiting for this all afternoon, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

The quirk of his lips gives him away, and she starts to pull her hand from his grasp, but he tightens his fingers around hers and she stops.

"Castle, I didn't mean anything-"

He cuts her off. "Dinner, Detective."

Her shoulders drop and she looks almost resigned. "Fine."

It's not ideal, but he'll take it.

Rick grins, wide, and a small smile settles on her lips, even as she shakes her head.

A tug on her hand and yes, she actually lets him lead her out of the precinct.

"You know, Beckett, if you let yourself, you just might enjoy it."

He's not speaking about dinner, of course.

Rick keeps a hold of her hand even after they've reached the street. He's half afraid she's going to run the moment he lets go but then, just like that, any doubts he might have had earlier are gone because she leans into his side and that's not the same as trying to shake him off at all.

If he keeps grinning like this she's going to notice, he thinks, but he can't quite tamp it down.

Sure enough, when he chances a glance at her, she's frowning in his direction.

"Quit it."

"Quit what?"

"It's not Christmas, Castle. You're not five. Quit looking like all your birthdays have come at once."

She snort when he says, "I'm just happy you're finally giving my cyborg theory the credence it deserves." Because, yeah, maybe he's smiling around each word still.

He manages to school his features, makes a point of showing her, and she laughs as he waves a hand for a taxi.

"It's just dinner." But her frown doesn't reappear and her shoulder bumps against his.

Her eye roll meets his, "For now," but she still lets him open the door for her when a driver stops.

"You're going to be insufferable, aren't you?"

"There's a very good chance of that."

And it's not going to be easy, he knows.

She's going to fight him, every step of the way, and that might have been enough to have him back peddling and second guessing once, only now he's not going to give up because, whether she meant to or not, she's given him hope.

The grin spreads across his face, unbidden once more, as he follows her into the back of the yellow cab.

More than hope, she's given him _permission_ because, when the guy asked if they were a couple, Kate had been the one to blurt out a '_Not yet_'.


End file.
